The vital role leadership plays in today's complex society cannot be underemphasized. Tomorrow's leaders need to learn and retain the knowledge and skills required of a leader in an efficient and effective manner so that they are able to step into and assume leadership positions in all phases of society.
Current systems and methods for effectively teaching leadership skills are typically limited to listening to lectures, reading case studies about the exploits of well-known leaders, and perhaps participating in an exercise designed to allow the leadership student to apply his or her knowledge and/or conceptions of leadership skills in a controlled environment. While these methods may have some merit, they also have a number of shortcomings including keeping the attention of the leadership students, not allowing for a fun and engaging experience to bolster interest in the subject matter being taught, and lacking the capacity for reinforcing the lessons presented by the learning material with quick and direct feedback to choices made by a leadership student.
Accordingly, there is a need for a novel system and method to facilitate the learning of leadership skills for those who will become tomorrow's leaders in society, business, and other endeavors. In an embodiment, a computer-implemented method for a narrative-driven role playing game is described, the method including providing, by a game engine, a plurality of zones wherein a first one of the plural zones includes a first non-player character (“NPC”) for interacting with a player character (“Character”) controlled by a player, and wherein the first zone includes one or more first quests at least one of which is locked and not initially selectable by the player, and wherein the completion of a predetermined one or ones of the one or more first quests allows for the Character to proceed to a second one of the plurality of zones; providing, via the game engine, an entry of the Character into the first zone; selecting, by the player via the game engine, a first one of the one or more non-locked first quests; and placing the Character, via the game engine, in the selected first quest.
The embodiment further provides for interacting, by the player via the game engine, in the selected first quest with the first NPC in a first set of narrative-driven dialogs each having a branching dialog tree, wherein a first dialog of the first set of dialogs includes a predetermined initial input by the first NPC and a first plurality of predetermined response options presented to the player, wherein the player selects one of the first predetermined response options, and wherein a second dialog of the first set of dialogs includes a second input by the first NPC based on the first predetermined response option selected by the player in the first dialog of the first set of dialogs; attaining one of a predetermined number of first outcomes based on one or more responses selected by the player in the first set of narrative-driven dialogs; determining, via the game engine, a first quest score for the selected first quest wherein the first quest score is based on the first outcome attained; placing the Character, via the game engine, into the first zone; displaying to the player, via the game engine, an effect to the first zone based on the attained first outcome wherein the effect includes unlocking a locked first quest; selecting, by the player via the game engine, a second one of the one or more non-locked first quests; placing the Character, via the game engine, into a second one of the plural zones upon the player's completion of the predetermined one or ones of the one or more first quests; determining, via the game engine, an aggregate score for the player based on completed selected first quests; and displaying, to the player, an indication of the aggregate score.
In another embodiment, the computer-implemented method for a narrative-driven role playing game may be stored on a non-transitory machine-readable medium in the form of a plurality of executable instructions.
According to yet another embodiment, a computer-implemented method for a narrative-driven role playing game is provided to teach and/or reinforce leadership training, aspects, and strategies to a player, the method including providing, by a game engine, a plurality of zones wherein a first one of the plural zones includes a first non-player character (“NPC”) for interacting with a player character (“Character”) controlled by a player, and wherein the first zone includes one or more first quests at least one of which is locked and not initially selectable by the player, and wherein the completion of a predetermined one or ones of the one or more first quests allows for the Character to proceed to a second one of the plurality of zones, and wherein the second one of the plural zones includes a second NPC for interacting with the Character controlled by the player, and wherein the second zone includes one or more second quests at least one of which is locked and not initially selectable by the player, and wherein the completion of a predetermined one or ones of the one or more second quests allows for the Character to proceed to a third one of the plurality of zones; providing, via the game engine, an entry of the Character into the first zone; selecting, by the player via the game engine, a first one of the one or more non-locked first quests; and placing the Character via the game engine, in the selected first quest.
The embodiment further provides for interacting, by the player via the game engine, in the selected first quest with the first NPC in a first set of narrative-driven dialogs each having a branching dialog tree, wherein a first dialog of the first set of dialogs includes a predetermined initial input by the first NPC and a first plurality of predetermined response options presented to the player wherein the first plurality of predetermined response options include a praise response, a coach response, and a scold response, wherein the player selects one of the first predetermined response options, and wherein a second dialog of the first set of dialogs includes a second input by the first NPC based on the first predetermined response option selected by the player in the first dialog of the first set of dialogs; attaining one of a predetermined number of first outcomes based on one or more responses selected by the player in the first set of narrative-driven dialogs, wherein one of the branching dialog trees in the first set of narrative-driven dialogs includes a first path having a first number of NPC interactions for attaining a first of the predetermined number of outcomes and a second path having a second number of NPC interactions for attaining the first of the predetermined number of outcomes; and determining, via the game engine, a first quest score for the selected first quest wherein the first quest score is based on the first outcome attained.
The embodiment further provides for placing the Character, via the game engine, into the first zone; displaying to the player, via the game engine, an effect to the first zone based on the attained first outcome wherein the effect includes unlocking a locked first quest; selecting, by the player via the game engine, a second one of the one or more non-locked first quests; placing the Character, via the game engine, into a second one of the plural zones upon the player's completion of the predetermined one or ones of the one or more first quests; determining, via the game engine, an aggregate score for the player based on completed selected first quests; displaying, to the player, an indication of the aggregate score; unlocking, via the game engine, a game feature if the aggregate score is greater than a predetermined threshold; selecting, by the player via the game engine, a first one of the one or more non-locked second quests; and placing the Character, via the game engine, in the selected second quest.
The embodiment further provides for interacting, by the player via the game engine, in the selected second quest with the second NPC in a second set of narrative-driven dialogs each having a branching dialog tree, wherein a first dialog of the second set of dialogs includes a predetermined initial input by the second NPC and a second plurality of predetermined response options presented to the player wherein the second plurality of predetermined response options include a praise response, a coach response, and a scold response, wherein the player selects one of the second predetermined response options, and wherein a second dialog of the second set of dialogs includes a second input by the second NPC based on the second predetermined response option selected by the player in the first dialog of the second set of dialogs; attaining one of a predetermined number of second outcomes based on one or more responses selected by the player in the second set of narrative-driven dialogs; and determining, via the game engine, a score for the selected second quest wherein the score is based on the second outcome attained.
The embodiment further provides for placing the Character, via the game engine, into the second zone; displaying to the player, via the game engine, an effect to the second zone based on the attained second outcome wherein the effect includes unlocking a locked second quest; selecting, by the player via the game engine, a second one of the one or more non-locked second quests; placing the Character, via the game engine, into a third one of the plural zones upon the player's completion of the predetermined one or ones of the one or more second quests; determining, via the game engine, an updated aggregate score for the player based on completed selected first and second quests; and displaying, to the player, an indication of the updated aggregate score.
In still another embodiment, the computer-implemented method for a narrative-driven role playing game which is provided to teach and/or reinforce leadership training, aspects, and strategies to a player may be stored on a non-transitory machine-readable medium in the form of a plurality of executable instructions.